If it were in my power, I would be wiser; but a newly felt power
carries me off in read more

If it were in my power, I would be wiser; but a newly felt power
carries me off in spite of myself; love leads me one way, my
understanding another.
[Lat., Si possem sanior essem.
Sed trahit invitam nova vis; aliudque Cupido,
Mens aliud.]

Be a pattern to others, and then all will go well; for as a whole
city is affected by read more

Be a pattern to others, and then all will go well; for as a whole
city is affected by the licentious passions and vices of great
men, so it is likewise reformed by their moderation.

Our life's a flying shadow, God the pole,
The needle pointing to Him is our soul.

Our life's a flying shadow, God the pole,
The needle pointing to Him is our soul.

O may I join the choir invisible
Of those immortal dead who live again
In minds made read more

O may I join the choir invisible
Of those immortal dead who live again
In minds made better by their presence; live
In pulses stirred to generosity,
In deeds of daring rectitude, in scorn
For miserable aims that end with self.
In thoughts sublime that pierce the night like stars,
And with their mild persistence urge man's search
To vaster issues.

The future influences the present just as much as the past.

The future influences the present just as much as the past.

Even here Thy strong magnetic charms I feel,
And pant and tremble like the amorous steel.
To read more

Even here Thy strong magnetic charms I feel,
And pant and tremble like the amorous steel.
To lower good, and beauties less divine,
Sometimes my erroneous needle does incline;
But yet (so strong the sympathy)
It turns, and points again to Thee.

God in making man intended by him to reduce all His Works back
again to Himself.

God in making man intended by him to reduce all His Works back
again to Himself.

He raised a mortal to the skies;
She drew an angel down.

He raised a mortal to the skies;
She drew an angel down.

Spontaneously to God should turn the soul,
Like the magnetic needle to the pole;
But what were read more

Spontaneously to God should turn the soul,
Like the magnetic needle to the pole;
But what were that intrinsic virtue worth,
Suppose some fellow, with more zeal than knowledge,
Fresh from St. Andrew's College,
Should nail the conscious needle to the north?